I am expecting English teams to make far more of an impact in next season’s Champions League, but they are a long way off the level I saw in Saturday’s final.
None of the five Premier League sides who will be involved are near the same class as Real Madrid or Juventus. A lot of work needs to be done, and a lot of signings need to be made for any of them to have a chance of winning it.
It was Real’s speed of thought and quality of passing that saw them run away with the game in Cardiff in the second half with a performance which set the standards that our clubs need to match.
The Spanish champions were too quick and too clever for Juve and their one- and two-touch football was a lesson to everyone about what you have to do to get success at the highest level.
I don’t know what happened to Juve after the break, but they had been brilliant in the first half when they were full of energy and power, and their defence has been formidable all season.
Even before the final, I thought there was a lot of work to be done by our teams just to catch both sides up.
Watching the game highlighted the gap even more, but there are some reasons to be optimistic that the situation will change soon.
SOURCE: BBC SPORT
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